Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Leon Kirchner: Revelations - An intimate portrait

Revelations is an interesting overview of Kirchner's music. It
ranges from some of his earliest work as a student in 1943, up through
2006, three years before his death. It's also an intimate overview,
comprising of works for solo piano and piano plus voice compositions.

The opening and closing piano works -- Little Suite (1949) and The Forbidden (2006) frame the collection nicely. The Little Suite is charming in its simplicity and straight-forward themes. The Forbidden, though more complex, flows with the same easy motion as the Suite.

Dawn, while tonally based, avoids all the cliches of choral
writing. This brief work has a sense of urgency to it that effectively
conveys the meaning of the text. Words from Wordsworth, written
20 years after in 1966 is much more strident and edgy in tone. This
isn't an academic exercise in dissonance. Kirchner illuminates the text
with his carefully constructed harmonies.

Three Songs (1946) and The Twilight Stood (1982) are the
most angular and atonal of the selections. Once again, the music is
there to serve the text. Kirchner brings the emotions of the words
vividly to life.

Pianist Joel Fan, who performs on all but one of selections, is an
admirable interpreter of this music. His sympathetic readings bring its
emotional content to the fore.